Hopper-car door



W. P. MURPHY.

HOPPER CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9, 1921.

Patented Aug. 8 1922.

has for its-primary object to provide WALTEK P. MURPHY, NEW YQRK, N. Y.

norrnn-can noon.

Original applicaticn filed July 29, 1919, Serial No.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. s. ices.

314,055. New Patent No. 1,3773%, dated may M3,

1921. Divided and. this application filed February 9, 1921. Serial No. 443,691.

To vaZZ to 710m it may concern Be it known that l, WALTER P. MURPHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York City, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hopper-Car Doors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to hinged doors or drop bottom panels for railway cars of the dumping type, such as hopper cars, hopper gondola cars, and" single service cars, and

an improved door, for cars of the above general type, which will be strong and rigid, without being unduly heavy and bulky.

Considerable difiiculty has been experienced in hopper cars, and other cars of the dumping type, due to the sagging and dis tortion of the door panels resulting from the pressure of the cargo against the door or other stresses to which the doors of such cars are subjected. llf the doors are\ distorted or sag they will not completely close the discharge openings of the car and accordingly permit the bulk material, with which cars of this type are usually loaded, to leak out. It is, therefore, important that car doors of this character be constructed so as to be sufficiently strong and rigid to resist the .va-

' rious stresses to which they are subjected while in service.

A further and more specific object is to improve 'upon the construction of doors of this. character so as to obviate the above faults and to strengthen and rigidify the I structure in other respects", particularly the of the hopper and to the side walls of the outer edges'of the doors'beyond the hinge.

straps, so as to resist'the' tendency of -the doors to sag'or deflect under the load.

A further object is to provide a door construction consisting of the novel arrangements, constructions and combinations of parts hereafter described .and claimedgfor carrying out the above stated objects and such other objects as will appear from the following description of the structures illustrated in the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention in a typical form my improvementsjhave been shown in connection with a hopper car which in its general construction may be of any familiar form. It will be" realized, however, that my improved door construction is not to be limited to this particular species of J5 Fig. 2 is an inverted plan View of one of thedoors, with parts in section, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to that shown in 1, illustrating a modified construction of door.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the three figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing: In a car of the general design illustrated, the space between the side and end walls is divided into several discharging hoppers or chutes, each having a discharge opening. Figs. 1 and 3 are fragmentary views, showing the lower portion of one hopper only. Each discharge openingis normally closed by a door and these doors are operated in pairs, the doors at each side of the center line of the car being connected by a common cross beam. Longitudinal and transverse structures divide the bottom of the car into the discharge hoppers mentioned. This construction is common, and my invention I is not concerned therewith. lin the drawing 10 designates one of said hoppers, 11, 12

the longitudinal and transverse structures which. divide the'bottom of the car into hoppers, as stated, and 13 designates triangular side plates of the hopper which are preferably riveted to the bottom or slopesheet 14:

ing structure-formed with corrugations, and

while such reinforced construction of these members is not essential in connection with the use of a door constructed in accordance with my invention, it is deslrable in that thecorru ations 14:, rigidify the hopper adjacent t e discharge opening so as to prevent the ed e of the hopper from warping or being istorted' in a manner to prevent the door from completel closing the discharge opening. The rigi ifying of the hopper walls by means of corrugations is not claimed herein, being the subject-matter of an aplication filed by me July 29, 1919, Serial 0. 314,055. When loading cars of this character, heavy charges of material, suchas coal, ore, or other bulk'material is often dropped from a clam-shell bucket or other loading device a considerable distance above the bottom of the car. The severe shocksresulting from the material striking the discharge door and also the pressure of the material against the door when the car is loaded, tend to distort the edges of the door. In order'to obviate these and other objections above mentioned, I have provided a door of reinforced construction for closing each of the discharge openings. Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2,

the door shown in these figures consists of a sheet metal plate 15 formed with corrugations or strengthening ribs 16, and preferably with downturned marginal flanges 17 the plate being hinged to the sloping bottom t section 12 of the car by a pair of hinges comprising hinge members 18 secured to the bod of the car and hinge members 19,19,

pre erably angular in cross-section, which 1 extend across the plate 16 and are fastened thereto by rivets 20 and serve to strengthen and rigidify the door. The cross beam above mentioned to which each pair of doors is secured, consists, as shown in these figures', of a 21, 21, arranged back to back, and secured to the outer edges of the door plate 15. A door operating link 23 is engaged with an eye-bolt 251 arranged between the channel bars 21, 21,

at a place midway their extremities and between adjacent doors. The flanges 25, 25 of the angular hinge straps 19, 19, ,are riveted to certain of-the corrugations 16 of the door panel and are longer, at their upper ends,

than the'outstanding flanges 26, 26, and are- .bent over to. form eyelets 27, 27, through 45 which the pins 28 of the hinges'extend- At the lower'end of the hinge straps, the outstanding flanges 26, 26 are longer than the flanges-25', 25', and are bent over as shown at 29 and secured by rivets 30' toon'e of the channel bars .21. The corrugations 16' are preferably parallel, merging one into another and extend from. side toside of the door, terminating as near to the lateral edge's of the panelas ractical. Thehinge straps being formed 0 an'angular configuration in cross section, extending across the =-door at right angles to the corrugations and being riveted to the door panel 16 between certain of said corrugations, increase the rigidity of the door, functioning as restraining beams.

In particular, the corrugations give the necessary rigidity to the portions of the door beyond the hinges which'are the parts of the structure that are ordinarily most liable to sagging and deflection.

vstruction of door.

pair of channel bars designated In Fig. 3 I have shown a modified con- The door, in this case, consists of a transversely corrugated sheet metal plate 32 secured to a pair of binge straps 33 which are Z-shaped in cross-section. The lateral flanges 34: of the Z-bars,

at their upper ends, are longer than the outstanding webs, and are bent to form eyelets 35. The door operating beam consists of a .T-rail 36 fixed upon and riveted to the lower ends of the hinge straps 33. The lower edge of the metal plate 32, in this figure, is preferably given a slight curve upwardly, as indicated at 37 so as to fit over the lower edge 38 of the discharge hopper. In other respects, the door structure shown in this figure and the manner in which it is conne'cted to thebody of the car may be the same as that shown and described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2, and corresponding parts in Figs. 1, 2' and 3 have accordingly been given the same reference characers. I

This application is a division of my aforesaid copending application Serial No. 314,055, filed Ju1y2a1919.

I claim: 1. The combination with a railway car. of

the dumping type, formed with a dlscharge opening, of-a door for said opening comprisip a metal plate formed with a plurality o substantially parallel corrugations and hinges for hinging the door to the carbody, each comprising a hinge member on the car body and a hinge and stifi'ening member extending across the door plate on the underside thereof, and secured at interdoor to the car, each comprising a hinge member on the car body and a hinge and stifiening member angular in cross-section to provide an outstanding rigidifying rib, extending across the door plate on the underside thereof, said plate being formed with a plurality ofrigidifying corrugations which 1 16 extend across the hinge and stlffening members and terminate close to the side edges of the door, for the purpose described.

3. In combination with a railway car of the dumping type, formed with a discharge opening, of a door for said opening com prlsing a metal plate hinged to the car body and provided with a plurality of corrugations which extend transversely with respect to the hinges and are secured thereto at intervals and terminate close to the lateral edges of the plate so as to rigidify the margins of the plate outside the hinges.

4. In combination with a railway car of the dumping type formed with a discharge opening, of a door for said opening compr s-v ing a metal plate hinged to the car body and provided with a plurality of corrugations which extend at right angles to the hinges and terminate close to the lateral edges of the plate so as to rigidity the margins of the plate outside of the hinges.

.5. In combination with a railway'car of the dumping type, formed witha discharge opening, of a door for said opening comprising a metal plate and hinges for hinging the door to the car body, each comprising a hinge member on the car body and a hinge member extending across the plate on t e underside thereof and attached at intervals thereto, the plate being formed with a plurality of contiguously arranged corrugations which lie across "the hinges and terminate close to the lateral edges of the door so as to rigidify the marginal portions of the same outside of the hinges.

6. The combination with a railway car of the dumping type formed with a discharge opening, of a door for said opening comprising a metal plate provided with angularly disposed rigidifying flanges along its edges and formed with a plurality of contiguouslyarranged corrugations terminating adjacent said flanges, means for operatively connectin the metal plates to the car comprising a inge member secured to thebody of the car, a hinge strap extending across the plate transversely of the corrugations, and

an operating and rigidifying beam extend- 7. The combination with a railway car of opening, of a door vfor said opening comprisin a metal .plate 'formed with angularly isposed rigidifyingflanges along. its

edges, and formed with a plurality of sinuous corrugations terminatin adjacent said flanges, means for operative y connecting the metal plate to the car comprising hinge members secured to the body of the car, hinge straps extending across the plate transversely of the corrugations, and an operatingand 'rigidi fying. beam comprising two channel bars arran ed back to back and extending across the said plate transversely of said hinge straps; said hinge straps being the dumping type, ig'ormed with a discharge formed each with an outstanding rigidifying flange which is bent at one end and secured to one of said channel bars and with a lateral flange secured to certain of said corrugations, extending beyond the end of the outstanding flange and bent to provide an eyelet adapted to receive a hinge pin.

WALTER r. MURPHY. 

